


Be The Colour To My Black

by storyofmine



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Drama, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Growing Up, M/M, Strangers to Friends, mentions of violence later on in the story, pastel!niall, punk!harry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-03
Updated: 2018-09-23
Packaged: 2019-07-06 13:48:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15887292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/storyofmine/pseuds/storyofmine
Summary: They already know on Niall's first day at Harry's school: They're going to be best friends - forever. When Harry slowly starts to lose himself in the blue of Niall's eyes and Niall feels nowhere safer than in Harry's arms, they slowly realise that - maybe - they want to be more than just friends.Each chapter tells their story from a different point in time of their friendship up until they're about 17/18 years old - they grow up, they learn more about themselves and, finally, they start getting feelings for the other.





	1. How Harry realised Niall's eyes are his favourite colour

**Author's Note:**

> Hey ^^
> 
> Thank you for clicking on this story and giving it a chance. I've already finished writing it and can tell you that it's not going to be a very long story. I think it's like... 6 or 7k.
> 
> Once again, English isn't my first language which means I do make mistakes. If you find one, I'm sorry but everybody makes mistakes.
> 
> It'd be great if you'd leave a comment telling me what you're thinking so far or if you have any tips for me to improve my writing. Thank you so much and have a great day :)

Harry Styles met Niall Horan after the Irish boy moved to Holmes Chapel. At that time, they were 11 and 12 years old and Niall was the new student in Harry’s class.

The school principal entered their classroom on a Monday morning with a small, slender boy following behind him while Harry sat all alone at his desk for two next to the window and drew flowers on his maths notebook. Mathematics never interested him which was why he didn’t pay any attention to his teacher’s words. Flowers are way more beautiful than numbers anyway, he thought while taking his light blue pen out of his pencil case. Light blue was his favourite colour.

He was too concentrated on drawing in the lines he drew beforehand with his pencil that he didn’t notice the principal’s and the boy’s appearance until the older man cleared his throat and everyone’s head turned to the front of the classroom.

Harry would have rather continued drawing but he knew the principal’s cough well enough to realise that something important was going on. His eyes drifted from the big, bulky man, who was standing in front of the blackboard, to his teacher, who sat at the teacher’s desk and studied his students. Then the principal started talking and Harry noticed the blond boy for the first time.

“Like I announced last week, you’ve got a new student as of now. This is Niall”, he explained and laid a hand on the boy’s – or Niall’s - shoulder.

Right then, Niall had his head hung low, making his hair fall in front of his eyes which were fixed on the ground next to his feet. Harry’s desk was placed near the front, making it easier for him to see the way Niall’s hands were shaking quiet badly. It made him feel sympathetic for the boy and he’d love to just go over and give him the tightest hug ever and calm him down.

After analysing the new boy, most students went back to doing their own thing, such as solving the exercises or whispering to their neighbours. Harry wanted to continue drawing but he’d rather see were Niall was told to sit. There were many empty seats in the classroom but most of them at the back where no one sat and Harry doubted the boy had to sit alone.

Also, Harry didn’t have a lot of friends. It’d make him more than happy to have Niall sit next to him. He could become his best friend. That would be nice, he thought while gabbing the light blue pen and resuming the drawing. Luckily, the scraping of the pen wasn’t too loud and he was able to hear the conversation between teacher and new student.

“Just sit down somewhere and try to do the exercises on the blackboard for now. If they’re too difficult, you can ask me for help at the end of the lesson, okay?” the teacher asked after the principal has already left. There was no answer, so Harry imagined Niall giving a curt nod or doing nothing at all.

“It’d probably be best if you sit next to Harry. That way you’ll have the nearest seat to the front possible”, the teacher explained and Harry made an imaginary squeal after hearing that. A bright smile appeared on his lips and he even forgot to colour in his flowers.

Again, there was no answer. After having a glance to the front of the classroom, Harry saw that Niall was on his way over now but the blonde still didn’t bother looking up. The ground wasn’t even that interesting, Harry thought and took a look himself to make sure he didn’t misjudge it. But no, nothing extraordinary. A few bread crumps and sand from the playground.

The next time Harry looked up, Niall stood next to his desk. His head still hung low but he mustered up the courage to watch Harry through his eyelashes. 

“Hi, I’m Harry”, Harry introduced himself the way his mother taught him to and grinned just wide enough to show off the gap between his teeth. He knew he had to be the one to take the first step if he wanted to be Niall’s best friend and he’d give his absolute best. Even though he didn’t quiet know Niall yet, he already swore to himself to make the boy feel welcome and happy. He wouldn’t have any worries. Never.

Niall smiled shyly, making Harry even more happy, and raised his head to be able to look at the boy with the wild locks properly.

Harry noticed Niall’s eyes right away. They were light blue – like the flowers on his notebook. He needed to tell Niall, Harry thought and while Niall put down his bag on the empty half of the table, he already opened his mouth to point it out. His choice of words seemed to confuse Niall a bit which the blonde didn’t show because he hoped he found a new friend in Harry as well.

“Your eyes are my favourite colour, see?!” he asked and pushed his almost completely coloured notebook right in front of Niall’s eyes.


	2. How Harry realised Niall had him wrapped around his finger

“Can we go to the mall today?”

Harry almost jumped off his desk chair in surprise but he managed to hold himself up by grabbing his desk like his life depended on it while laying his other hand on top of his heart that was beating wildly at the moment. Turning around, he looked at his best friend, who was looking back apologetically, with big eyes.

“Oops, sorry. I didn’t want to scare you” Niall apologised with a twitching of his lips which indicated he wasn’t as sorry as he said he was.

“Don’t you ever do that again” Harry threatened. A second later, a big smile appeared on his face and Niall knew Harry didn’t truly mean it. As if Harry could be mad at Niall.

“Of course, I promise. And?” Niall inquired.

Harry sighed. His homework was waiting on his desk. It was placed there in the morning and Harry knew that if he would continue working at the slow pace he did all day, he’d need to work all night. That’s what he tried to explain to the older boy. “I can’t take the risk to get another bad grade, Niall. Can’t we go some other day?”

Why did he say that? Now Niall looked at him with big, begging puppy eyes. He pouted and let his head hung low between his shoulders. This way he was avoiding Harry’s eyes and studied the ground in front of Harry’s feet.

Harry had to physically hold himself back because if he didn’t he’d had crumbled instantly. It had happened way too often before and Harry wasn’t proud of it. Even though Niall always got super excited and happy and when they came back in the evening he’d have reddened cheeks and a big smile on his face. Harry wouldn’t crumble though. He wouldn’t.

The curly haired boy gulped. He had to think of another reason that’d make them stay at home – and fast. Seeing Niall this way – looking down sadly and behaving like a kicked kitten – made his heart hurt and his eyes sting. Then he remembered the one thing that ruined all of their plans. That one power that seemed impossible to be destroyed.

Their mums.

“Listen, Niall. I don’t think our mums are comfortable with us going to town. Do you remember last time we planned on going? How long it took them to tell us what dangers were lurking in the dark and what we needed to be aware of? I’m pretty sure because they were so worried – well, I don’t think they’d let us go again” he explained and it was true.

A few weeks ago, Niall has sneaked into Harry’s room to ask him if they could visit the city’s mall because there was this newly-published book Niall needed to get immediately. Harry couldn’t say no then as well which was why they asked their mums if they could go.

The women didn’t have anything against it. They could’ve taken Anne’s car that has been cleaned not too long ago but Niall and Harry hurriedly told them they wanted to go alone. After hearing those words, Anne and Maura looked at each other in surprise. Harry and Niall wanted to go on their own? They were 14 years old, there was so much that could go wrong. No, that wouldn’t be happening. Never. Full stop.

What the mothers forgot was how stubborn their sons were. If they wanted something they’d do everything to make it happen, so after 40 minutes filled with begging and after Gemma left the kitchen groaning while Robin, Harry’s stepfather, excused himself to go to the neighbour, Harry and Niall made it – they were allowed to go to the city on their own.

They were about to high five each other but then Maura cleared her throat and the next 40 minutes were filled with warnings and things they had to remember – how much money they needed to give the bus driver, what times the buses were driving, what time they had to be back home, how they had to not to lose each other, why they had to stay together and about how they were not allowed to talk to strangers.

Niall and Harry nodded along, though they were only listening with one ear. They were already thinking about the shops they planned on visiting. There were book shops Niall wanted to go to, music shops for Harry and clothes ones which was important for both of them.

Harry knew it was mean to tell Niall no, especially because he’d steal the stars for Niall which- okay, it was a bit weird to say something like that considering they were friends. But they were best friends and best friends do everything for each other. They do at least.

Niall sat down on Harry’s bed and kneaded the blanket with his smaller fingers, looking sad while doing so. “I already asked them, Harry. They said it’s okay if we don’t stay out too long.”

Okay, if it wouldn’t take forever then maybe he’d be able to finish his homework in the evening. He might need to hurry and the answers wouldn’t be completely right but then Niall wouldn’t look so sad anymore which was the most important thing. 

And- Niall did it again. Harry sighed. Was he still surprised about the fact that Niall had him wrapped around his finger?

“Okay”, he started and Niall’s head shot up in less then a millisecond. The blonde looked at Harry with big, expectant eyes. “We can go to the mall but I have to finish this one exercise before we go. It’ll make me feel like I have accomplished at least one thing today. And we won’t stay till it’s dark. Okay?” he asked and held out his pinkie.

Niall stood up, walked over to Harry and hooked his own little finger in Harry’s. “Pinkie promise” he said smiling and withdrew his hand again.

It left Harry wanting to hold onto Niall’s hand a little longer. But before he could form a pout with his mouth, Niall sat down in Harry’s lap and leaned over the maths book. Big, green eyes stared at the blond boy. It wasn’t the first time Niall sat in Harry’s lap but he’d usually get a warning before it was happening.

A second went by before Harry shrugged and sneaked an arm around Niall’s middle so he’d be able to lean forward as well without pushing Niall off his legs. That’s just what best friends do.

“Harry, that’s so easy. Look, this is how you do it.”

With Niall’s help, they had finished the exercise after a few minutes. If Harry had to do it on his own, he would’ve probably needed an hour and then there was a high chance of him having the wrong answer.

Finally, they were ready to go to the mall.


	3. How Harry realised Niall wanted to be his valentine

“Would you do me the honour of becoming my valentine?”

Harry was proud of himself, saying those words without stuttering or lisping and embarrassing himself in front of his crush.

These last few days were excruciating. He’s never felt this nervous before but, even though he didn’t think it possible, today, the 14th February, he woke up and his nervousness has reached the highest level. He hasn’t calmed down all day. How could he when the question has been asked but the answer was still unknown?

He’d love to look Niall in the eyes but he wasn’t brave enough. Instead, he studied the ground in front of Niall’s front door where he stood for a few minutes now after ringing the bell and waiting for Niall to open said door.

Harry knew for a few months now that the feelings he felt for his best friends weren’t purely platonic and every minute they spent together – and they spent a lot of minutes together – made that feeling stronger than it already was.

Every time the now 16-years-olds lay on Harry’s bed and Harry’d put his arms around Niall’s smaller body to pull him into his muscular one, he felt thousands of butterflies flying around in his stomach and then Niall would look at him which turned the uncoordinated butterflies into excited hummingbirds.

Or, another scenario, when the boys went to the mall again because Niall needed new clothes, even though he bought a new hoodie just a week ago, he’d ask Harry if he liked the colour on him. Harry would then look at Niall for a moment. The oversized sweater Niall chose would be way too big and drown his smaller body down to his knees but the pastel blue colour of it would compliment his eyes in exactly the right way. The brown-haired boy often lost himself in those eyes and then forgot the question asked but Niall usually already made the decision to let Harry buy the sweater for him.

Let’s not talk about Harry’s very first tattoo – a simple N engraved on his collarbone. Anne didn’t know anything about the many tattoos littering Harry’s body and he wasn’t actually allowed to get them without the okay from his parents but a friend of his – Zayn Malik – owned a tattoo studio and Harry knew him long enough that they just went with it. After the N more tattoos followed and Harry’s skin might still be considered naked in comparison to his friend but he planned on changing that in the next few years.

Harry wasn’t sure how much time passed since he asked the question and held out the roses but he still hasn’t gotten an answer which was why he finally raised his head with a frown. 

Green eyes locked on blue ones right away.

The first thing Harry noticed were the tears swimming in Niall’s eyes. Did he do something wrong? He should’ve bought the chocolates instead, right? But his mother had told him that chocolate was lame – roses were the better thing to bring. But then his eyes travelled down to Niall’s lips and he saw the biggest smile he has even seen on Niall. It confused him even more.

“Niall?” he asked concerned while simultaneously standing up, letting his arm with the roses sink down. “I’m sorry. I just wanted-” But he got interrupted by Niall who was suddenly in his arms. He put his arms around the boy out of instinct.

“Eh, what?” he managed to say.

Niall whose head leant against Harry’s chest looked up at him. The tears were still threatening to fall but because of their close proximity Harry could finally see that those weren’t sad tears. The butterflies in Harry’s stomach began flying around erratically. 

“I thought you’d never ask, you idiot.” Niall laughed, stood on his tippy toes and pressed his lips against Harry’s. He could taste the piecing that went through Harry’s bottom lip. It was a weird taste but the only thing that mattered was that Niall finally got his kiss. How long did he wait for this moment to happen?

A second passed in which Harry stood there completely frozen but then he melted into the kiss and held onto Niall that little bit tighter. That’s how they stayed for a long time, basking in the moment they secretly longed to happen for an eternity.

When they parted to get some air into their lungs, they kept each other close. The tips of their noses were softly brushing against the other which was why they had to squint slightly to look into the other’s eyes. It was kind of funny and they burst into laughter.

“Is that a yes?” Harry asked to make sure he didn’t misinterpret the situation. A kiss didn’t have to mean anything, right?

Niall seemed to think so because he raised his arms and put them around Harry’s neck while leaning in and kissing his best friend a second time.

“Of course, it’s a yes, you idiot.”

And that’s that.


	4. How Harry realised Niall was his everything

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warning: There's going to be mentions of violence and descriptions of wounds in this chapter.
> 
> Also, this is the last chapter for this story. If you enjoyed it, let me know or if you've got any prompts for me, send me a message over on wattpad (xstoryofminex) or Tumblr (xstoryofminex).
> 
> Thank you all so much for reading!

People turn out to be very different from each other by the time they turn 18-years-old. For some it’s the middle of their rebel-phase while for others it’s the age they start gaining control over their lives.

For Harry it was more of the rebel-phase.

School bored him to death which was why, if he even bothered going, it was with a deep scowl across his face. His teachers weren’t brave enough to talk to him about his missed classes because – or so Harry thought – he looked like he’d punch the next person who’d talk to him.

He could be proud of his tattoo collection by now. The ink wasn’t painted on his arms only but also on his chest and stomach. Plus, he spent a lot of time at the local gym, making his arms more muscular with every visit (Niall told him every chance he got how sexy those arms looked in tight t-shirts) which, added to the tattoos and dark clothes he wore, made him pretty scary-looking.

To be honest, Harry’s teachers weren’t really in the place to be mad at Harry for missing so many classes seeing as his grades were very good. All thanks to Niall who was one of the top 3 students of the year and helped Harry with his studies.

Niall and Harry were together for two years now and there was nothing they would want to change. It might sound like one of Nicholas Sparks’ novels but every day they fell a little bit more in love with each other. There was no Niall and Harry anymore – it was NiallandHarry. Every single minute of the day they would spend with each other – except for the time school went on. While Niall sat at school, listening intently and writing down notes for his and his boyfriend, Harry was at home doing this and that.

Just like on that day.

Loud music came blasting from Harry’s boxes, making the walls vibrate thanks to the intensity of the bass. His black clothes were laying all around the floor, making it difficult to find space to place the foot on. Because of the drawn curtains, his room has been dark all day, not letting any sunshine in through a random crack.

Harry sat on his bed, wearing nothing but boxers and texting with Zayn. The time has come to think about a new tattoo to add to his body. It turned out to be quite difficult, talking about preferences and what not, which was why they tried finding an appointment.

It was 1:30 pm. Harry should be on his way home from school by now but, seeing as he didn’t go today, he didn’t spare a thought about it. He was just waiting for Niall to text him that he arrived home so Harry could come over – after putting on some clothes of course.

Thinking about Niall made Harry smile. He loved thinking about Niall. About his blond locks, his blue eyes, his oversized clothes he turned to wear all the time – well, those and Harry’s clothes -, and his hands Harry loved to hold. A few weeks ago, Niall had started painting his nails the colour of his sweaters. Even though Harry liked it a lot and told Niall so every chance he got, it didn’t change the words that were thrown after Niall at school.

It only happened when Harry wasn’t at school or far enough to not be there to protect Niall and to make sure that whoever said something bad to his boyfriend would never be able to say anything at all. Because Harry hasn’t been at school all that much for a while now, it happened a lot more and a few times Niall has been forcefully pushed around as well. Harry didn’t know though and Niall wanted to leave it at that. He was able to stand up for himself, Niall thought, which he really couldn’t.

Harry was about to send the time they wanted to meet to Zayn when a new message popped up at the top of his screen.

Without reading the preview of the message, he clicked on it and got redirected to his private chat with Niall. Above the short message that just came in, there were hundreds of hearts and kisses they sent each other the night before. A small smile tucked at his lips while seeing those but upon reading the new message it vanished just as quickly. It was one word only but it set off a panic in Harry that made him jump off his bed in a millisecond.

‘Harry’ the message said. Alright, that might not look like something bad happened but the thing was that Niall never called Harry Harry. It was either Hazza or Harold or even idiot but never Harry. Plus, there was no heart or something similar added to the message which Niall would have done because they haven’t seen or talked to each other all day.

Harry tripped around his room trying to put on shoes and then he was out of the house.

It took him 5 minutes to arrive at Niall’s house. Usually, it was 10 minutes or 15 if he took his time even though Niall lived only one street away.

Standing in front of the front door, he tried opening it eagerly, realising as soon as he did that the door was locked which meant that Maura wasn’t home and Niall was alone. It made the whole situation that little bit more confusing because Niall has texted Harry, meaning he knew Harry would be here soon. Harry rang the doorbell and waited impatiently for Niall to open the door.

It took a few minutes – Harry couldn’t understand why – but a key got turned finally and the door opened a centimetre wide. Harry could see Niall’s blue eyes peeking through the crack and, after realising it was Harry on the other side of the door, a relieved sob left his lips.

The door was thrown open and Harry wasn’t even able to get a good look at his boyfriend to make sure that everything was alright before the smaller one almost jumped into the protective arms of his best friend. More sobs could be heard. It raised Harry’s level of concern immediately and he felt his t-shirt getting wet where Niall pressed his face against his chest.

Harry stood there, kind of clueless of what was going on and not knowing what to do. Finally, he took Niall in his arms and carried him While putting one arm under Niall’s bottom to prevent him from falling down, he pushed the front door open with his free hand and closed it after entering the house.

“Niall, what’s going on?” Harry asked in the hallway. He put Niall back down who wasn’t able to say a word yet due to the sobs wrecking through his body. Instead of saying anything, he looked up to meet Harry’s eyes. Harry’s heart stopped upon seeing him.

Niall – his Niall – didn’t look like he’d spent his day at school but at a boxing studio instead.

His left eye was surrounded by a purplish bruise that, thanks to his pale skin, looked even more painful. The tears gave it a terrifyingly pretty shine. His cheeks had an unnatural blush – hopefully from crying and not from another punch – and the skin underneath his nose was reddish – either sore from a runny nose or because of a nose bleed. Harry hope the first one was the case.

Slowly, Harry walked over to Niall, eyes widened in shock and knelt down a little to be on eyelevel with Niall. He took his boyfriend’s face into his bigger hands, very carefully almost as if he was scared he’d break him even more if he touched him. Long, lanky fingers framed the pale face as if it were the most expensive painting in the world and massaged his temples.

Tears were gathering in Harry’s green eyes. It seemed too difficult for him to understand what those injuries meant. Harry could see the way Niall was holding his stomach protectively or just to keep together the pieces of himself with his skinny arms. It made Harry fear the worst.

“Niall?” he breathed. He wasn’t sure if he said anything at all.

Said one broke eye-contact to instead study the wooden floorboards his mother loved so much just to not have to look into his boyfriend’s eyes. He began to regret sending Harry a message at all. What would he do if Harry thought of him as a wimp now? That he couldn’t do anything on his own and wasn’t worth to be his boyfriend?

Before he was able to let the concern take over completely, he felt Harry’s arm sneak around his frame completely and he found himself in the air a second later. Well, not literally but figuratively.

As if Niall weighed nothing did Harry climb up the stairs and his grip on Niall didn’t waver one bit. Rather, it got firmer.

After they arrived in Niall’s room, Harry sat Niall down on the soft mattress and then sat down next to him, turning them around so they were able to look at each other comfortably.

He raised one arm to dry the tears underneath Niall’s right eye, too afraid to even touch the purple one in case he’d hurt Niall even more. Then he let his hand slide down Niall’s face and torso, finally resting it next to his other one at the hem of Niall’s sweater. 

Harry held Niall’s gaze, trying to make him understand that he didn’t mean any harm. He just had to check if his assumptions were true. He hoped not – he suspected yes.

Niall didn’t try to stop him, he didn’t lift his arms from where they were wrapped around his middle neither which hindered Harry from removing it completely. But they would get through this as well. He removed his hands from Niall’s sweater and got a hold of his smaller hands instead, removing them from around his stomach.

After doing so, he positioned his hand back at the hem of Niall’s sweater and slowly, slowly and even slower lifted it up over Niall’s head until his torso and its condition was open to the world.

This time it was Harry’s turn to sob and tears he couldn’t hold back were rolling down his cheeks.

“Niall” he managed to say while his eyes were glued to Niall’s chest, stomach and arms. Those were covered with bruises of different sizes and colours, looking every kind of painful.

Harry wanted to bad to touch, calm, reassure, be there for Niall but seeing Niall this way brought him into some kind of trance in which the only thing he was able to do was stare. The trance melted after a few seconds and Harry was able to let go of the sweater that was now laying in his lap. Instead, he raised his hands and rested them carefully against Niall’s pink cheeks.

He didn’t ask what happened, could imagine it well enough and tried to, instead, look for other questions to help him understand why happened. He couldn’t think of any.

Harry worked on laying the both of them down on Niall’s bed. His arms sneaked around Niall’s body, this way it was easier for him to pull Niall closer and put his head on his own chest. Resting there, Niall started to cry again. Big tears gathered in the corners of his eyes and spilled over onto Harry’s t-shirt. Harry didn’t mind. It hurt too much seeing and hearing his boyfriend cry like that. The sound of it drilling into his ears and tearing at his heart.

To try and calm not only Niall but also himself down, he whispered soothing words into Niall’s hair.

“Sh, it’s okay. I’m right here and while I’m with you, nobody’s gonna hurt you. I promise” were the only words heard the next two hours. That’s how long it took to calm Niall down enough to make him close his eyes and let sleep take over for a while. Harry kept his eyes on him the whole time.

After making sure that Niall fell asleep, Harry removed one arm from around Niall, reached into his pocket and retrieved his mobile. Finding Liam’s contact almost immediately, he tipped out a quick message.

‘Niall’s house, asap. Door open.’

Then, he wrote another text to Zayn, explaining how he’ll meet him in front of the tattoo studio in 30 minutes. He said he has something to do and needed the artist’s help. He didn’t say what exactly he needed to do but Zayn would find out soon enough. Harry just really wanted to visit some boys from his year because after the first shock, the anger Harry felt for the ones who harmed his boyfriend – his innocent, happy, little Nialler - began rising. To start a fight with Harry was one thing but cornering his boyfriend – that was way, way worse.

Thankfully, it didn’t take Liam long to arrive at Niall’s and he soon opened the door a bit. “May I come in?” he whispered as soon as he saw the sleeping boy in Harry’s arms.

Harry nodded and tried hard to make the frown he surely spotted right now disappear. He almost succeeded.

He tiptoed over to the bed with confusion shining in his eyes and took in a shaky breath after seeing Niall’s torso that still wasn’t covered. He was about to open his mouth to ask what the f*ck even happened but Harry signalled him to be silent.

As slowly and carefully as possible did Harry remove his body from underneath Niall’s and got out of bed even more careful. Niall made a quiet whining noise but other than that he didn’t wake up.

Harry and Liam left the room. The questions were burning Liam’s tongue but Harry didn’t stop in the hallway. He didn’t say anything until they went down the stairs, walked through the kitchen and finally stopped in the garden.

“F*ck! How could I ever let him go to school on his own? I should’ve been there, should’ve protected him, then this f*cking shit would never have happened. F*ck!” Harry screamed and threw one of the apples that fell from the apple tree in Horan’s garden against the house wall with such strength that it exploded in a million pieces and left nothing but a wet patch on the stone.

Harry hasn’t been this angry in a long time but as soon as it involved Niall, his emotions went wild and he felt every single thing a thousand times more intense. That could and is very overextending.

“Calm down, Haz” Liam tried calming Harry while also stepping a few steps away from the boy. “Tell me what happened, okay?”

It seemed those words dragged all the energy out of Harry’s body as his shoulder slumped down and he let his head hung low in between his shoulders. He whole body resembled the one of a tired puppy.  
“Those homophobe arseholes were obviously waiting for the time I wouldn’t be there to protect him. They’ve punched him. My little Nialler, Liam. How could I let it happen?” Harry whispered angrily.

Liam’s eyes widened realising what Harry just implied. He couldn’t believe what he heard. In their small group of friends, Niall was the one they all loved the most and they felt the most protective about him because he was just so innocent and defenceless. It wasn’t Harry’s fault though and Liam tried to make him understand it but Harry just couldn’t see it.

“You don’t understand, Li. I should’ve been there for him, should’ve prevented this from happening. Now Niall’s lying on his bed, barely able to move without everything hurting. I- I’ll meet up with Zayn soon. That’s why I need you to stay here. At least until his mother’s back, alright? I have to trust you, do you hear me?”

That’s not what Liam wanted to hear at all. “You want to take revenge? In the middle of the day? Harry, I don’t think that’s a good id-”

Harry groaned. “Don’t even try to stop me. There’s nothing that could stop me. The boys who did that to my boyfriend won’t be brave enough to even look at him without the limbs shaking with fear.”

Now it was Liam’s turn to sigh. He’d rather Harry would stay here and do nothing but he also knew how Harry did whatever he put into his big head. So, he turned around and acted like he analysed a flower growing on the grass. He let 2 minutes pass until he turned back.

Harry had already left.

Hours later – Liam had said his goodbye forever ago because Maura had come home at some point and Niall had put on his pyjamas at one point to try and get some sleep – there was a hesitant knocking against the blonde’s window and okay – his room was on the second floor. Who’d be dumb enough to climb that high and, better question, how?

Having a look at his alarm, Niall realised it was a few minutes to 3 o’clock in the morning. If he got a little scared, nobody had to know.

Niall climbed out of bed, barely managing to do so without screaming in pain and got closer to the window where – what the f*ck – Harry was outside of it.

The shock made him breathe in shakily and he hurriedly walked over to the window to open it and let Harry in.

“Harry, it’s freezing. What are you doing here? Come in.” He almost tripped over his sentences because of how fast he was speaking and tugged on Harry’s black top to get him to climb into his room. He whispered as to not wake up his mother who was sleeping in the room on the opposite side of the hallway.

After turning on the lamp on his night stand and putting on his slippers, Niall turned around to see Harry looking back at him guiltily. It confused him which was why he came closer and never broke off the eye contact while reaching for the bigger hands.

As soon as his fingers came in contact with Harry’s, he retracted them quickly. His blue eyes widened in shock and Harry’s face took on a concerned and even guiltier look frown.

Niall let his eyes slide down Harry’s body and let them rest on Harry’s right hand that he took in both of his smaller ones. He turned it around to make the knuckles face upwards and he could see the open wounds on the prominent bones, letting big tears gather in the corners of his eyes. “Harry” he whispered while letting his left index finger glide across the wounds.

“It’s not as bad as it looks” Harry tried to sooth Niall and tried to remove their hands. He then raised his arms and laid them around Niall to pull him in close. Niall didn’t protest, pressing himself as close as possible. Having Harry’s smell fill his nostrils made Niall feel dizzy and his legs turned into jelly. Thank god Harry was there to catch him from falling. Niall didn’t have time to realise what was happening before he found himself being carried by his boyfriend. That’s how they stood in the middle of Niall’s bedroom, doing and saying nothing, just holding each other close.

After a while, Niall was able to stand on his own two legs again. He took the hem of Harry’s t-shirt into his hands and pulled it off of Harry. Harry’s trousers follower and soon enough they laid in Niall’s bed, Harry being pressed up against Niall’s back and spooning him from behind. He hid his nose in the blond locks where he breathed in the well-known smell of his favourite human.

“I’ll always be there for you to protect you. Nothing bad will happen to you ever again, do you hear me? Never. I promise.”

Niall’s lips turned up into a tired smile. He knew Harry couldn’t be there to prevent all the bad things that’d happen to him at one point in his life but he knew Harry would be there afterwards to make everything alright again. It had been like that since the day they met at Harry’s school and it would be like that until the end of time. He just knew it. Another thing he knew and would always know was:

“I love you, Haz.”

And something else that’ll still be true in a million years:

“I love you, too, Ni. My Nialler.”

Because as different as their appearances were, their feelings would always be the same – and that’s not going to change.

And that’s how it should be.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on Tumblr: xstoryofminex.tumblr.com
> 
> or wattpad: xstoryofminex


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